In this issue, learn about hopepunk and stories that refuse to give up; plus, writing best friends who are more than a sidekick, book recs for family fiction, and more! |
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I find it fascinating how the idea of hope has evolved in children’s books over the past few decades. I grew up on stories like The Secret Garden, A Wrinkle in Time, and Anne of Green Gables—books that treated hope as a superpower, something that could heal and change the world. But then came works like A Series of Unfortunate Events, The Giver, and The Hunger Games, which began to paint hope as naïve, maybe even silly. Somewhere along the way, the idea of hope was shifting—from something brave and precious to what children were expected to outgrow.
(How—and Why—to Put Hope in Writing.) It didn’t help that the term "toxic positivity" became part of our everyday vocabulary, turning optimism (and by extension, hope) into a potentially harmful topic. Because how do you stay positive when the world feels so uncertain? Read more... |
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Writing Best Friends Who Are More Than a Sidekick |
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Friends are one of the biggest gifts in life. These are relationships based on common interests, mutual support, and having a good time together, without family drama, sexual politics, or economic strings. These are people we choose because they make our lives better. Recent research shows that friendships add significantly to our mental and physical health and even make our romantic relationships/marriages stronger. Friends rock.
Read more... |
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Aaron Starmer: On Speculative Fiction for Middle-Grade Readers |
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"In the revision process, my editors and I put in the most work on the ending and making sure it served not just the story, but the reader. By that, I mean the reader who makes it to the end of the book has given me a lot of trust, and the ending needs to reward their trust. It has to feel both unexpected and inevitable, and since the book presents so many mysteries, it has to either deliver satisfactory explanations or leave the reader with the types of questions they want to continue to ask."
Read more... |
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We Are Our Art, and Our Art Is Us |
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“Write what you know.” You’ve seen this advice a million times, and you might also have seen others refute it. Personally, I live in the camp of “there are no rules, write whatever you want,” but there’s no denying that using what you know as a point of departure can be an interesting exercise that might lead you to unusual places. But whether you intend to place your story in a familiar setting or not, the truth is no author is a blank slate. We all bring pieces of ourselves to our work, regardless of intention.
Read more... |
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| Achieve Perfect Pacing
This issue is dedicated to pacing in any and every interpretation of the word as it relates to both writing and publishing. That means, how to keep the pace going as you draft a novel or work on revising it, and how to build in pauses that force readers to stop and think about what they’ve read. It also means advice for indie authors on how to pace the release of their books, understanding traditional publishing timelines, and much more.
Click here to learn more >> |
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9 Book Recommendations for Writing Fiction About Families |
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For closing in on a year now, I’ve been noodling with/working on/making notes about/outlining—basically everything except actually writing—a story about two families whose lives become irrevocably intertwined. And as I do all that thinking and note-making, the more I wanted to study how other authors approach the topic of families. I wanted to know things like: Who gets a voice in the narrative? How do the authors choose which mundane life situations to include as a sort of baseline for all of the critical, dramatic moments that drive the plot forward? What periods of life do the authors skip past as time passes? Because as I started outlining my own story, these are all of the decisions I realized I’d have to make, and I wasn’t ready to make those choices.
Read more... |
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| From Your Writer's Digest Editor: Robert Lee Brewer
Robert Lee Brewer is a senior editor for Writer’s Digest and former editor of the Writer's Market book series. He is also the author of Smash Poetry Journal and Solving the World's Problems. He got in a bit of walking over the weekend in the nice spring weather. |
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